remembering a great son of queens. political leaders and neighbors reflect on the passing of supreme court justice and elmhurst native antonin scalia. cold hearted. mother nature gives us the most frigid valentine's day on record as firefighters battle a fire and ice in the bone chilling cold. the record-breaking and dangerous cold make it an accuweather alert day. good evening, i'm joe torres. >> and i'm sandra bookman. we're going to begin with the arctic blast that's plunged the

freeze. temperatures in central park dropped below zero for the first time since 1994. and that doesn't even factor in the windchill. >> the arctic air is numbing bodies and freezing wildlife like the plants in this instagram picture sent to us by an eyewitness news viewer in the bronx. >> now our interactive map at abc7ny shows the mercury stuck in the teens across the tristate area, we've got team coverage of the bitter cold. we're going to begin with meteorologist jeff smith and the exclusive accuweather forecast. jeff? >> oh, sandra, joe i'm happy to report the coldest air is now behind us but it feels still pretty brutal out here right now, anytime we get a little breeze it feels brutal out here and you want to avoid any prolonged exposure to this cold tonight. because it's still dangerous. check out the lows that we had this morning. this is unbelievable. got down to 1 below zero in central park and 13 below in monticello. basically every reporting station had a record low this

north of new york city got well below zero. there's that record that we broke. the old record was 2 set back in 1916 so 100 years ago. now we have the coldest valentine's day on record. that was today. and of course as you just heard, the last time we were below zero in central park back in 1994. this hasn't happened in 22 years. 12 right now islip. 15 in the park 11 in sussex. windchills not nearly as dangerous as they were earlier this morning and last night. but still very cold none themself and we're going down to 12 in the city and then all eyes turn toward our next snow threat. that comes in tomorrow. this winter weather advisories for new york city and points north and west for that first flakes arrive around midday. talk amounts and tell you when it's going to get washed away by a bunch of rain in the full accuweather forecast coming up later in the half hour. joe, sandra? >> thank you jeff. now for those outside, the biting winds and subzero

new york city enhanced its code blue outreach with teams focusing on keeping the homeless safe. eyewitness news reporter kemberly richardson is in union square this evening. >> reporter: sandra at this time there are twice as many outreach workers on these streets than on an average day. again, the frigid temperatures are driving that. also the city issued code blue. now during these bitter temperatures, of course as you mentioned, it tough for the -- is tough for the homeless. a few hours ago we were the only television station to go underground with mayor billion dollars. we got an up -- de blasio. we got an up close look at this process. >> we're not just trying to get people in for one night. trying to get them off the treats perm -- streets permanently in some place. >> reporter: for the homeless this makes an extremely difficult situation potentially deadly. and so many head to the subways for warmth. that's where we teamed up with mayor de blasio and city outreach workers. this is the mayor's plan called home stat in action.

medical and shelter off the streets. >> some folks, it's not going to happen to first time, it's not going to happen to tenth time. -- the tenth time. about continuing to come back over and over. >> reporter: we hang back a bit as the mayor and workers in orange approach this man. his name is alex a former taxicab driver who lost his job in 2005. like so many other homeless people had medical problems and ended up here. he's open to the suggestion of going to a shelter. and once he learns he can literally see a doctor in ten minutes, alex agrees to go. joking with everyone -- that he doesn't want to be the talk of the town. [ inaudible ] >> let's get it gone. >> reporter: a second man doesn't want the leave. tony is well-known to the outreach workers. but the mayor tells me the majority of people like alex accept the help. a balancing act he's committed to.

individual basis to help people get off the streets. who followed a pathway that is individualized path way. not a one size fits all problem. not a one size fits all solution for single homelessness. >> reporter: now we're told last night 105 people voluntarily went to shelters. only one gentleman had to be involuntarily taken in. the mayor tells me that happened when workers determine the person is in immediate physical danger. for now live in union square, kemberly richardson, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> thank you. fire and ice new jersey city where three firefighters were hurt while battling a fire that damaged two homes. eyewitness news reporter cefaan kim tweeted these pictures of the scene. the fire displaced four families. he's in jersey city right now. cefaan? >> reporter: well, joe that fire took away homes from four families and left behind all of this ice that is now covering half a block here. and it's from that water that froze over from the

the water to fight the blaze that extreme cold and the winds creating some serious challenges for those firefighters. >> it was just like chaos. >> reporter: a three alarm fire in jersey city even more difficult to battle because of mother nature. firefighters say the extreme cold and freezing water as it was coming out of the hoses. 70 firefighters in all responding and enough backup to overcome the frozen hoses. and happened around 9:30 this morning here on marion place spreading quickly to the building next door because of high wind gusts. >> smoke was -- it was crazy. the whole place is smoking and couldn't even get anywhere. close to it. >> reporter: no residents were injured but four families are now displaced and among them several young children. now staying with friends as they try rebuild their lives. >> our friends -- why she's more like -- emotionally disturbed. >> reporter: three firefighters were injured but they are expected to be okay. the cause of the fire is still under investigation. but officials say they think they know where it started.

heavy fire on the rear first floor in the rear. the bathroom. the fire extended up to the second floor and then ultimately to the exterior. >> you can see the house it's totally messed up. it's and i don't know, they were cry in the morning. but thank god. tall lives are okay. -- all the lives are okay. >> reporter: now those families will not be ahead out in the cold as you heard they are staying with friends and the red cross is assisting the others. reporting live in jersey city, cefaan kim, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> cefaan thank you. cold may be to blame for a transformer fire. pse and g crews are on the scene repairing the transformer in union city right now. the fire happened around 2:00 this afternoon. no one was hurt. around 1500 customers lost power for a little while but the lights are back on tonight. to keep tabs on the icy conditions while on the go, download our accutrack weather app.

you can also use it to upload pictures of the conditions in your area. tributes are pouring in for supreme court justice scalia, the widely respected conservative justice died yesterday at the age of 79. in washington, flags fly at half staff at the supreme court building and the white house. scalia was of course born from trenton but grew up in queens and eyewitness news reporter josh einiger is in elmhurst this evening, josh? >> yeah, sandra, hemod here to elm -- he moved here to elmhurst at the age of 6 and would wax poetic about his time here. but tonight that's not what anyone is talking about. instead, the question is who will replace him and how? >> reporter: this morning, at a west texas funeral home, it's flag at half -- its flag at half staff. the body of justice antonin scalia was roadway perked for a final jury -- prepared for a

>> he influenced a generation of judges, lawyers, and students. and profoundly shaped the legal landscape. >> place your left hand on the bible. >> reporter: raised in queens and a graduate of xavier high school in manhattan, antonin scalia was nominated to the high court by president reagan in 1986 and was one of the most consequential conservative voices in the court's history. >> because the loss of is that voice on the court means that the court will be different, even if a conservative justice is picked, it won't be the same kind of conservative as justice scalia was. >> reporter: today's polarized political environment, his body was barely cold before the fight on who's going to replace him. >> it's going to be nearly impossible for president obama to get through the senate almost anyone who's been on his short list. >> hours after scalia died senate majority leader mcconnell suggested he might block any nomination by president obama from the campaign trail his fellow republican senator ted cruz

>> we should not allow a lame duck president to essentially capture the supreme court in the waning months of his presidency. >> reporter: the president has indicated he will move forward with a nomination. >> the president hasn't even nominated anybody and the constitution says that the president serves for four years. you want to be a strict constructionist as justice scalia was, president should nominate. >> reporter: it is customary for a supreme court justice to lie in repose at the court after his or her death. the logistics of all that are still being worked out because of course the body is till in texas. and we are still waiting for the very latest on that. we're live in elmhurst, queens tonight, josh einiger, channel 7 eyewitness news. stay with eyewitness news and abc news for complete coverage of the passing of supreme court justice antonin scalia. you can also find updates and information about the clock at abc7ny. a sexting investigation shakes up nassau county.

county executive claims he is a victim. well, now a probe is underway. >> and also movie stars walking the red carpet. but the controversy over the in new york state, we believe tomorrow starts today. all across the state the economy is growing, with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in the hudson valley, with world class biotech.

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in new jersey investigators are working to identify the victims of a double murder. police responded to a 911 call in branchburg just before 6:00 a.m. saturday and they found 20-year-

with blood despite having no wounds. other officers went to his home and found the bodies of a man and a woman in bed each with blunt force trauma to the head. a developing story now involving the nassau county executive and sexually explicit text messages allegedly sent from his cell phone number. nassau county police are investigating a complaint filed by county executive ed mangano who says he is the victim of social media impersonation. mangano says he and a female public relations woman are victims of spoofing. in a statement today he said quote i'm outraged at this smear attempt and will take legal action against the sick individual who has sought to assassinate my character and hurt my family. now the woman identified by police as karen caro also issued a statement saying the

has so far failed to turn up any record of the alleged conversations. stars walked the red carpet of the latest movie awards ceremony but the spotlight was on the industry's lack of diversity. london's royal opera house played host to this year's british academy film awards. like the oscars nominations for the b aftas were dominated by white actors, "star wars" star nominated. >> i think it's important to have all people represented in entertainment. entertainment is something that brings us together and to be a part of that, to be yourself within that. >> the british film academy will work to make sure its 6500 voting members become a more diverse group. a heartwarming story. a flower power on this chilly valentine's day. coming up on eyewitness news, the student who gave a carnation to every girl in his school. more than 800 of them. >> uh-huh.

and the next rain. and possible flooding. jeff has more on the storm that

one utah teenager has more than 800 valentines. he spent his own money to make sure that every girl at hiss high school has a flower for valentine's day this year. he just wants to be sure no one feels left out. the teenager earned the money for carnations by working as a

and we can't leave you without showing you this. the empire state building. right now. shining -- >> spectacular. >> a bright red for valentine's day. >> that really is pretty red. >> uh-huh. >> that beating heart. >> yeah. >> just how cold will it get? >> warm us up even visually. on a cold day like today. it's some still brutally cold out there right now. the good thing is the wind really relaxed from last night into this morning when windchills were down to minus 19 at one point even here in new york city. there's that live look again over toward the empire state building and 15 is as warm as we've gotten all day. that's been our high today. that wind northwest at 6 miles per hour. of course the 1 below zero first time we've gone below zero in over 20 years in new york city. and beating that record by three degrees, 2. that was set back in 1916. 100 years ago today. so you have lived through the coldest valentine's day on record. bitter cold it continues

snow and ice develop tomorrow afternoon into tomorrow night. i think it's snow during the day tomorrow. transitioning to a wintry mix after dark. and then eventually changing over to plain old rain later tomorrow night and rain on tuesday maybe heavy enough to cause some localized flooding. 14 right now morristown and down to 3 though already at monticello. 12 at belmar and on the island at islip and also southwestern connecticut at bridgeport. windchills down in the single digits in and around new york city. not quite like earlier today but still pretty brutal nonetheless. here comes our snow system. moving in through the lower ohio valley right now. leading edge of that approaching southwestern pennsylvania. the clouds increase later on tonight by 8:00 not morning we're -- in the morning we're sitting around 15 degrees in the city and still some single digits north and west. i think first flakes arrive in the city probably around 1:00 p.m. late morning, as we head down towards central parts of new jersey. by the evening commute there will be some steadier snow falling with temperatures at or

it will accumulate on roadways. keep that the mind and give yourself extra time later tomorrow to travel. watch the rain line move up. by 10:00 tomorrow night we have rain in the city. you're still snowing or mixing well north and west. and then it's raining everywhere by the wee hours of tuesday morning. maybe a break early tuesday before some heavier downpours arrive from the west during the afternoon. look at temperatures though. up into the mid 50s by tuesday afternoon. before the changeover a coating to an inch of snow. new york city out on to western shore. it's more like a one to three inch snowfall areas north and west of the city. accuweather forecast for tonight. very cold. increasing clouds we're down about 12 and cloudy and a in the afternoon. by nightfall up into the middle 30s and mid 30s by very late tomorrow night. the wintry mix in the evening will change over to periods of plain rain later on at night. into the day on tuesday, it is milder out there.

at times for some localized street and highway flooding. so keep that in mind and then we clear out a little bit on wednesday. just a few peeks of sunshine and still mainly cloudy. 48. a lot of sunshine on thursday, colder though. 41. 42 on friday and back into the 50s by next saturday. we'll be tweaking the timing

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laura behnke here now with some men who were cleared for takeoff weren't they? >> can't you? tonight the lebron james and kobe bryants and carmelo anthonies at the nba world will take center stage in the all- star game up in toronto. but it might still be hard for them to top what we saw last night. in the slam dunk contest. as the defending champion zach levine and aaron gordon put on a show finally bringing excitement back to the competition. the duo went through multiple tie breakers and the judges finally went with levine making him the two-time slam dunk champion. >> huge, that's been my dream all life is to compete in the slam dunk contest. >> he's like i ain't never tried that before. we were just out of it -- we were looking at our bag of tricks and ain't nothing left and i found a little piece of dust. >> the four words we so really needed to hear this time of year. especially on this frigid february weekend. pitchers and catchers report.

four days away for the yankees. tanaka has the early start and throwing his first mound session today since surgery to remove a bone spur back in october. he threw 20 pitches in tampa reporting no issues with that elbow. he is expected to have another mound session in a couple of days. well, who would have thought you would need to go inside to a hockey game this weekend in order to actually warm up? that was definitely the case though in newark today. the devils happy to heat things up for their fans. as they hosted the kings in the second of a weekend back-to- back. this one all about luck. first period schlemko off the face-off and it's going to deflect off a king and go in. it was 1-0 devils, kincaid taking care of things from there. he had 28 saves and frustrating l. a. all afternoon. he also got some help from the post. in the third here under two minutes to go. that is the tying shot. but it's deflecting out and 1-0 the devils with the shut-out. the old saying goes it's not how you start it's how you finish.

for the syracuse men who lost their first three acc games but today had a chance to win eight of the last ten. traveling to boston to meet the bc eagles. syracuse just 3-13 from three in the first half but the second half a different story. richardson the triple then the orange hit eight threes in the second. 75-61 syracuse wins its fifth straight. and the uconn women's basketball team continued to show today it's really a matter of them and everyone else. the top-ranked huskies took care of temple this afternoon 80-65 for their 61st straight win and 101st straight over the unranked opponent. the 61 consecutive victories, in ncaa history. and finally, a new definition of sports domination courtesy of a girls' high indiana. a 9 year tradition -- 29 tradition there by capturing their 30th straight state the girls won 9-12 events jed

at the finals university to capture the title. >> wow. >> they have turnover every four years with graduations and still keep it up. very impressive. >> man their mom and daughter could have won. that's the news for now. thank you for joining us, i'm joe tours. >> and i'm sandra bookman -- torres. >> and i'm sandra bookman, we're coming back at 11:00, you should too. [ captions by: caption

welcome to "world news tonight." remembering justice antonin scalia. and now, the battle to replace him. the conservative titan of america's highest court. brilliant, sharp, provocative. his sudden death in an election year. obama vowing to appoint his successor. the republicans saying no way. the new justice could shape the supreme court for a generation. southern brawl. the fiery republican debate in south carolina, the next primary state. the rowdiest, loudest, and angriest yet. >> the world trade center came down during your brother's reign. remember that. arctic express. the bitter blast of sub-freezing cold. bone-chilling and dangerous. the whiteouts. the accidents. and the new winter storm on the move. 100 million people in the way.